Seattle Seahawks Activate Kenny McIntosh, Dareke Young From Injured Reserve vs. Washington Commanders
Following impressive weeks on the practice field, the Seattle Seahawks added running back Kenny McIntosh and receiver Dareke Young to the 53-man roster on Saturday, setting the stage for both players to potentially make their season debuts against the Washington Commanders.
In a corresponding move, Seattle waived rookie cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly. The team also elevated veteran tackle Jason Peters from the practice squad for the third straight game as insurance behind starters Charles Cross and Stone Forsythe.
Drafted out of Georgia in the seventh round of this year's draft, McIntosh got off to a quick start in his first training camp, demonstrating better speed and quickness than demonstrated at a disappointing combine workout and soft hands as expected out of the backfield. Unfortunately, before he truly had a chance to compete for the Seahawks' third down back job, he suffered a knee sprain in the team's mock game scrimmage on Aug. 4.
Missing the rest of training camp and the preseason, McIntosh landed on injured reserve after initially making Seattle's 53-man roster and returned to practice on Oct. 25, opening his 21-day window for the team to either activate him or lose him for the remainder of the season.
Sidelined since early August by a knee sprain, the Seahawks will finally have a chance to get a dual-threat back in Kenny McIntosh into the backfield mix on Sunday.
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Despite exiting last weekend's 37-3 loss to the Ravens with a shoulder injury, veteran DeeJay Dallas participated in practice all week and received a questionable designation on Friday. Coach Pete Carroll indicated he should be ready to play, however, and the team will have to figure out whether both he and McIntosh will be active behind Ken Walker III and Zach Charbonnet on Sunday.
“Both of those guys worked today, and Kenny is ready to go," Carroll said. "We’ll figure out how that’s going to work out, we don’t know yet. DeeJay had his first full day today and he was ripping. I love the way he worked today, and it looks like he’s ready to go.”
As for Young, the second-year wideout out of Lenoir Rhyne will re-enter the mix in a competitive, deep receiving corps now featuring standout rookies Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Jake Bobo as well as recently re-instated Dee Eskridge. As a rookie, though he only caught two passes for 24 yards, he emerged as one of the Seahawks best young special teams players and possesses elite athletic traits at 6-2, 224 pounds.
Unlike McIntosh, who needed three weeks of practice before Seattle decided to add him to the roster, the team wasted little time activating Young. Returning to practice earlier this week after missing the first eight games recovering from sports hernia surgery, he impressed Carroll and the coaching staff enough during the week to warrant releasing Kelly to create a roster spot for him.
While it remains to be seen whether or not the Seahawks decide to keep him active against the Commanders, Young's versatility with prior snaps playing fullback, slot receiver, and numerous special teams units gives him a solid chance to dress for the first time this season.
“He had a very good week too," Carroll said of Young on Friday. "Every one of these guys are ready to play. He has to make it through tomorrow. We’ve got to find out how the whole week worked for him and we won’t determine anything yet. He was impressive and he had a very good season last year for us. We have high expectations for him to be a contributor, particularly in [special] teams, but in other aspects as well. This week he looked like he was full go.”
By choosing to elevate Peters, who has played significant snaps rotating in behind Forsythe at right tackle the past two games, the Seahawks won't be able to suit him up again for the rest of the season without signing him to the 53-man roster. With starter Abraham Lucas expected to return to practice next week from a knee injury, however, that may not be a significant issue moving forward.
